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CHAPTER

Introducing Modifiers

and Using the Modifier

Stack

hink for a moment of a wood shop, with all its various (and expensive)
tools and machines. Some tools, like a screwdriver or a sander, are sim- IN THIS CHAPTER
Tple, and others, like a lathe or router, are more complex, but they all
change the wood (or models) in different ways. In some ways, you can think of Using the Modifier Stack to
modifiers as the tools and machines that work on 3D objects. manage modifiers
Each woodshop tool has different parameters that control how it works, such as Learning to work with modifier
how hard you turn the screwdriver or the coarseness of the sandpaper. Likewise, gizmos
each modifier has parameters that you can set that determine how it affects the Exploring the Select modifiers
3D object.
Modifiers can be used in a number of different ways to reshape objects, apply Deforming objects with the
material mappings, deform an object’s surface, and perform many other actions. Parametric Deformer and
Many different types of modifiers exist. This chapter introduces you to the con- FFD modifiers
cept of modifiers and explains the basics on how to use them. The chapter con-
cludes by exploring two different categories of modifiers that are used to deform
geometry objects: Parametric Deformers and Free Form Deformers (FFD).

Exploring the Modifier Stack

All modifiers applied to an object are listed together in a single location known as
the Modifier Stack. This Stack is the manager for all modifiers applied to an
object and can be found at the top of the Modify panel in the Command Panel.
You can also use the Stack to apply and delete modifiers; cut, copy, and paste
modifiers between objects; and reorder them.

Understanding Base Objects
The first entry in the Modifier Stack isn’t a modifier at all; it is the Base Object.
The Base Object is the original object type. The Base Object for a primitive is
listed as its object type, such as Sphere or Torus. Editable meshes, polys, patches,
and splines can also be Base Objects. NURBS Surfaces and NURBS Curves are
also Base Objects.

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